Tuesday, November 26, 2013

There was a hiking accident, then a three-and-a-half hour drive wondering if a loved one was OK and how bad she would be injured when I arrived. (She was OK, mostly. A kindly family of hiking Mennonites stopped to comfort her while waiting for emergency personnel. A three-hour rescue operation followed, and yada yada yada, she'll be walking again in 8 to 12 weeks.)

There have been new and scary concerns about Nephew Bone. Thankfully, an EEG and MRI -- two months apart -- were both deemed normal. We have prayed for the best while fearing things unspoken.

Somewhere in the midst of it all was a stretch of seven days in a row spent in some hospital, doctor's office, ER, or other medical facility. I guess the worry and stress must have piled up on me, because I developed a cold sore for the first time in my life, then ran a fever for three days after.

There was a bit of good news, as I landed my first-ever paid writing gig. It's nothing grand, but is exciting for me. And it probably would have gotten its very own post but for everything else going on, so celebrating seemed out of place.

Oh, and if all that wasn't enough, I overflowed the toilet, flooded the bathroom, then came downstairs to find water pouring through the ceiling. Long story short, if you ever come to my place and have a choice, don't sit in the recliner.

I have a confession. It's really hard for me to focus on anything else right now because... herpes! I have herpes! And according to something I googled, it could have been lying dormant inside my body for years without me knowing! With my swingin' lifestyle, I could have infected as many as five, yea, six girls over the past decade. How can I live with myself?!?!

Unfortunately -- or perhaps very fortunately -- I could find no songs about herpes to feature on this week's Music Monday. So instead, I have called upon an old friend. (No, not Tone Loc, though that would have been super cool. And how did you even know he and I were homies?)

I first heard Nate Ruess when he was lead singer of The Format. For a while, their "She Doesn't Get It" held the coveted title of most played song on my iTunes. After they broke up, I figured I'd never hear from him again. Like an ex-girlfriend you long for wistfully who says she wants to stay friends but never answers her phone when you call.... as an example, I mean.

And then...

One glorious day two or three years later, I heard that unmistakable voice again. "That sounds like the guy from The Format," I thought. And it was.

He'd started a new band called Fun. It was good to know that he had moved on and I.... well, he had moved on.

The Format never really became a huge mainstream band, so it's been kinda cool to see Ruess enjoy much success with Fun, even as my own success has remained almost eerily unchanged.

I like this acoustic version of "Carry On."

I would like to dedicate this song to all of us afflicted with herpes, the silent killer....... what? What is carbon monoxide......

Oh my God! I may never fall asleep again!

"The smell of hospitals in winter, and the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters, but no pearls..."